technotech

tools for html and programming

Everything you need to learn web development and web programming is free except the computer, books, and internet access.

On this page are explanations of

• the basic things you need,
• the specific things you need for php, javascript and perl,
• where to get them,

• and lists of good text editors, books, and internet sites.

all you need:

• A computer - Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or any other kind. You don't need a lot of memory or hard drive space for basic programming, but 2 GB of RAM is the minimum we need these days just to run a useful computer.
• Any web browser – but FireFox is the most useful.
• References and manual for the language you are learning.
• A text editor
• If you are learning programming, such as php or perl, you need to install that programming language.

that's all???

Yup, that's all!
You do not need an internet connection to make websites or to learn web programming. You will need a connection sometimes, if you upload your pages or code to a public website.

Other very helpful things are:

Know how to type. Even better, know how to touch type. If you don't have to look at the keyboard and think about the letters, you can look at your screen, and think about what you're doing. Much easier!

Know how to read English. Programmers write, a lot. Programming itself is writing, and programmers write about programming, and how they solved programming problems, and how things work. Most programming documentation, books, and websites are in English. If you are in a good habit of reading, you will find this very helpful in learning programming. You can find everything you need to know in books and on the internet.

Know HTML. A lot of the principles of writing HTML are the same as for writing programs. Also, if you want to write programs for the web, you will need to know HTML.

Know someone who knows programming.

Know someone who's learning programming.
It helps a lot to have someone to talk with.

specific things you need for each language:

to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript:

• Nothing else.

to learn PHP:

• The PHP language interpreter installed on your computer. (PHP's home is www.php.net/)

  For Macintosh, it's at www.webstar.com

  For Windows, easiest is to install through the WAMP installer.

  For Linux, PHP should be already on your system. Check the "Add/remove packages" menu.

• You also need a web server, such as Apache. (Apache's home is httpd.Apache.org/) You need to either have a web server installed on your computer, or be able to upload your programs to another computer that has a web server on it that understands PHP.

  For Macintosh, apache will be already installed on your system.

  For Windows, easiest is to install through the WAMP installer.

  For Linux, apache should be already on your system. Check the "Add/remove packages" menu.

There are two popular packages called wamp and xampp that bundle php, apache web server, and mysql together, with an installer that makes it easy to set them all up onto your Windows computer.

to learn Perl:

• The Perl language installed on your computer.
  For Macintosh, www.macperl.com
  For Windows, www.activestate.com/perl/
  For Linux, perl should be already on your system.
• To do web programming (cgi) you also need a web server program such as apache. You need to either have a web server installed on your computer, or be able to upload your programs to another computer that has a web server on it.

to learn database programming, with PHP or Perl:

• A database program. The most common one these days is MySQL (MySQL's home is www.mysql.com)

  For Macintosh, mysql may be already installed on your system.

  For Windows, easiest is to install through the WAMP installer.

  For Linux, MySQL may be already on your system. Check the "Add/remove packages" menu.

text editors:

A good text editor is the primary tool for programming.

• A good text editor is a pleasure to use, and helps you program better.
• SimpleText (mac) or NotePad (Windows) are simple text editors. However, they are not good for programming – they are for writing notes, as their names sound like. They will only slow you down.
• You can't use a word processor, like Word or WordPad, for programming, as they put invisible code into your file.

What is a good text editor? It has:

- line numbering

- extensive search and replace of text

- syntax coloring so you can see your code more easily.

- It may also have tools for:

checking your code

organizing your code files

running your program directly in the editor

abbreviations of frequently used code

• Windows:
  NotePad++
• Macintosh:
  BBedit
• Linux:
  vi
  emacs, of course!
  gedit
  Almost any editor on linux will be good for programming.

where do i get these tools?

• For Windows and Mac, the good news is: we have all of the above on cd rom, flash drive, and at TibetanGeeks.com/downloads/.
• For Linux, the good news is: you probably already have everything installed already. If not, you can easily get any missing tool through your Package Manager.

books:

These are the books i am using for teaching. Some other useful books are also listed. They are all available in India at Indian prices.

html

• Our helper websites:
  http://www.w3schools.com/html/
  http://www.w3schools.com/css/

php

• Learning PHP & MySQL, Davis & Phillips, O'Reilly/Shroff, 2006 (Rs. 325).
• Our helper website: http://www.krautgrrl.com/learningphp/

perl

• Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours, Clinton Pierce, SAMS/Techmedia.

Other good books for perl are:

• Learning Perl, Randal Schwartz, O'Reilly.
  This is the classic beginning Perl book, written by one of the people who helped write Perl, and who is also a professional Perl trainer. If you are already comfortable with programming concepts, learn from this book.
• Programming Perl, Larry Wall, O'Reilly. This is THE book on Perl, written by The Man himself.

linux

• Teach Yourself UNIX in 24 Hours, Taylor & Armstrong, SAMS/Techmedia.
• Our helper websites:
  http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
  http://linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php